FR EE
MONDAY, JULY 29, 2002
Volume 1, Issue 223
Santa Monica Daily Press A newspaper with issues
City’s policy change on homelessness pending Could be fall before issue is discussed BY CAROLYN SACKARIASON Daily Press Staff Writer
It could be fall before the city changes its policy on how it handles vagrants and panhandling in Santa Monica. A recommendation to the city council was made last month by the Bayside District Corp. to craft an ordinance that would limit the number of people who can be fed in a public place by a group, as well as limit the number of the feedings. The city issues permits for events in public spaces, which applies to dozens of outside church groups who feed the homeless in downtown parks and in front of City Hall. Board members of the Bayside District, which manages the Third Street Promenade, believe the “public feedings” are causing an influx of transients and vagrants to the downtown area. But it appears that any policy change won’t be discussed until September when the city holds its annual hearing on its homeless services. It is expected that city staffers will provide for politicians several options that would reduce homelessness and panhandling in Santa Monica.
“My impression is when they give us direction, then I think it’s something that could move relatively fast,” said City Attorney Marsha Moutrie. “One way or another the whole range of concerns and options will be in front of them.” Clearly, city officials have heard loud and clear from residents and businesses that a policy change must happen.
“It’s obvious in attending (Bayside District board meetings) that a significant amount of people won’t tolerate it anymore.” — MARSHA MOUTRIE City attorney
“It’s obvious in attending (Bayside District board meetings) that a significant amount of people won’t tolerate it anymore,” Moutrie said. “And I think it’s time that a policy change will occur.” The city has been dealing with See HOMELESS, page 5
Two Henna artists busted in undercover operation BY ANDREW H. FIXMER Daily Press Staff Writer
Two Henna artists were arrested recently by Santa Monica Police Department undercover officers for working downtown without a business license. Between four and six police officers dressed in plain clothes and equipped with a video camera descended on Luke Chanthadara and another unnamed Henna artist while they drew non-permanent designs on the skin of tourists on July 20. SMPD Lt. Frank Fabrega said the department routinely uses plain-clothed officers on the Promenade. In
Luke Chanthadara this case, each officer was assigned to watch cash transactions being made between the artists and customers. Since the beginning of the year, Henna has been banned from the city, yet Chanthadara and others
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have rebelled and continue to practice their craft. “We are enforcing the law,” Fabrega said. “They have been warned and cited in the past.” However, Chanthadara and other artists say they are being singled out by city officials. They also argue their civil rights are being violated for not being allowed to practice their art. “They came in plain clothes because they are too ashamed to identify themselves as police officers,” Chanthadara said. “But they came down and videotaped us working like they were tourists or someSee HENNA, page 5
Franklin Smith/Special to the Daily Press
Children slide down a man-made snow hill at Clover Park Saturday, where the annual Santa Monica Police and Fire Departments’ picnic was held.
More people 65 and older getting cosmetic surgery BY COLLEEN LONG Associated Press Writer
After Hazel York’s husband died, she moved into a retirement home, convinced the better part of her life was over. Then she met Damon. She’s 81. He’s 78. They were married about a year and a half ago at The Village Community Care Retirement Community in Hemet, Calif. She feels she won a second chance at life, so she decided to give her face a second chance, too. York underwent a five-hour face-lift in June in Beverly Hills, Calif., to erase some wrinkles and shave off a few years. Her husband is supportive, but said, “I love her as is.” She says she did it for herself. “Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to look 16 again,” she said, “but I also don’t want to look like Damon’s mother.” Experts say thousands of men and women 65 and older are getting plastic surgery. They want to feel young and attractive and battle age discrimination. Since 1997, the number of cosmetic
procedures for those 65 and older jumped from about nearly 121,000 to more than 425,000 last year. Seniors accounted for about 5 percent of 8.5 million surgeries performed in 2001, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery in Los Alamitos, Calif. Dr. Sheldon Sevinor, a plastic surgeon based in Boston, said he had at least 30 patients last year that are older than 70. “We’re living longer and feeling more vital,” he said. “Age 40 today is what age 30 used to be like.” He recently performed breast enlargement surgery on an 82-year-old Boston woman, his oldest patient to have the procedure. “She’s healthy, she’s spunky and she wanted to look how she felt,” he said. Leland Preble, 73, from Burlington, Mass., is planning to have his eyelids lifted by Sevinor. “I’m proud of my age, but when I have an eye exam, they have to pull my eyelids up so they can take the test,” he See SURGERY, page 6
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